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Monday, 30 April 2012

Here is a traditional turkish recipe. On rainy days, or whenever me and my mum are up late at night with no intention of sleeping - she will always pop this one out the bag. It's so simple and delicious. It has this odd taste, one thats slightly similar to that of Baby Born food - but in a really good way. You can either make it with rice or corn flour - I recommend trying it with both because they both give different yet distinctive and delicious tastes! The rice flour version is ¬†much more grainier than its smoother counterpart (cornflour version).¬†

Sunday, 29 April 2012

So here's my second Miette post! Miette Carrot Cupcakes! Carrot cupcakes were my second venture because the recipe included coconut, which interested me and I was eager to taste this concoction! The sponge was literally something else. You had the coconut complimenting the cinnamon, all whilst the corn oil was keeping everything incredibly moist. Fireworks. No ginger, no cloves, just cinnamon - trust me it works! These are being sold on Drysdale Street in NSP Cafe (off Old Street) this week, which is why I wasn't unable to¬†dissect¬†the cupcake so I could show you the inside! Hope you enjoy :)

The Recipe:

1 cup all purpose flour/self raising/cake flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon¬†

Half tsp salt

Three quarter cup corn oil

2 large eggs¬†

1 cup carrots

Half cup walnuts

Half cup desiccated coconut¬†

1 cup currents (optional)

Cream Cheese Frosting

1 pound cream cheese

Half cup unsalted butter¬†

1 cup icing sugar

The Method:

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees and line a muffin tray with 12 cupcake cases.¬†

Sift flour, salt, baking powder/soda and cinnamon in a large bowl and set aside.¬†

In another bowl (or a freestanding mixer) whisk together the eggs and sugar for 2 minutes.¬†

Gradually pour in the oil and whisk on high speed for one minute until the mixture emulsifies.¬†

Now add the dry ingredients in one third at a time until smooth.¬†

Add the coconut, carrots, walnuts and currents (if you used them) and fold in till well incorporated.¬†

Using an ice cream scoop, divide the batter into the cupcake cases until each one is two thirds full.

Place in the oven for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.¬†

For the frosting, sieve the icing sugar in a large bowl and set aside.¬†

In a freestanding mixer, cream butter and icing sugar smooth. then gradually add cream cheese, till you have a smooth frosting.

Thursday, 26 April 2012

On Tuesday I worked as a background assistant at Faircake's Cupcakes, Hands On Class! It was so much fun, a lot of work - but copious amount of unbelievable fun! I made a few awful mistakes (which I wont go into, still shamefully cringing) but hopefully I wont make them again! Still in complete shock that they even considered my application! My next date of work will be 11 May during the Boutique Cupcakes Class, very much looking forward to it! Anyway, enough self indulgent ramblings on about my life, there is nothing worse than boring your little audience with 'I's' and 'Me's' ! Here are some pictures of how the day panned out, as well as some cupcakes that the students made and left with at the end of the day.¬†

Set aside. Preheat oven to 180 degrees and line your desired baking tray (dependent¬†on size of batter, if your quadrupling the batter then a 14 inch cake tin is perfect).

In a large bowl sieve together all of the dry ingredients and set aside.¬†

In a freestanding mixer, cream together the butter and sugar for 2 minutes and then gradually add in each egg until you have a runny consistency.¬†

Add the vanilla extract and a third of the milk and mix till incorporated. Take the mixture off of the paddle attachment and using a spatula, fold the milk and flour into the batter, alternating between each.¬†

Pour the batter your prepared tin and set aside.¬†

Prepare a piping bag with a medium round nozzle and scoop in the lemon curd. Gently insert the piping nozzle an inch into the raw batter and squeeze in the lemon curd, repeat this in as many parts of the cake as you want.¬†

Spread the shortbread crumbs around the cake so that you have covered he whole surface.¬†

Place in the oven for up to an hour, keeping a close eye on it. Insert toothpick to see if it's cooked.¬†

Wednesday, 18 April 2012

As Miette reiterates, this cake is a challenge to bake! Not so much so in the techniques used, but in the sheer amount of processes you have to carry out to get that desired, moist and fine crumbed Hot Milk Cake. However, it is well worth going the extra mile for - I know now the difference between a sponge cake and a sponge cake!¬†

Pictures aren't too great due to bad lighting, so I'll be putting better ones up tomorrow!

Monday, 16 April 2012

I mentioned a few blog posts ago that my boyfriend went on holiday to Florida this week, upon his arrival he showered me in these gifts. I thought I‚Äôd share them with you Britons just so you can all see the sheer difference between our baking products and Americas‚Ä¶America wins. Hands down.

Saturday, 14 April 2012

A delicious cornbread muffin recipe that will knock your socks off! There is extra cornmeal in this recipe to give the muffins a slightly grainy texture, which works very well! This is an original recipe; there are no bits of corn or cheese, just plain grainy goodness so that you can capture that real corn taste. Cornbread muffins are a southern American favourite, I hope you enjoy my very own British take on them!

The Recipe:

200ml semi skimmed milk

420ml corn oil¬†

420g plain flour

4 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

2 eggs

250g cornmeal/Polenta*

100g golden caster sugar¬†

2 tbsp¬†Greek¬†yoghurt (optional)

*Cornmeal, and other packaged items that you can find in the oriental aisles in the supermarket are usually very expensive. You can always find them at over half the price in local off licenses.

The Method:

Preheat the oven to 160 degrees and line a muffin tray with cases.¬†

In a mixer, add the sugar and oil and mix for 2 minutes then add the eggs one at a times and then pour in your milk till you get a runny consistency.

Add in baking powder & salt and then the cornmeal till you get a thick-ish consistency.¬†

Now add the flour and then some¬†Greek¬†yoghurt to break up the batter.¬†

Plop batter into each muffin case until they are all jjust over two thirds full.

I may not be an expert baker, or have any practical qualifications that render me a 'chef de parte', all I have is an a level in food technology which I just about scraped a decent grade in! But what I have been doing for 10 ish years is consecutively mixing up the same ingredients for the same ish recipe to produce a sponge of pretty much the same calibre each time. Over the years the sponges have improved but there are obviously still some major flops that creep up from behind every now and (all the time) again.

Here is a round up of some baking related tips, tricks and general 'you should knows' that I've gathered over the years.

For moist and 'flat topped' bakes always use Stork margarine.

When pouring cake batter into tins, as an extra precaution - flour your tins as well as grease them!

A good branded flour actually does mean what it says on the packet - there's no need to sift! It would have been milled plenty of times.

Taste and Smile (Tate & Lyle) is notably less sweeter than Silverspoon.

You should always cream the butter and sugar for much longer than when you're mixing the batter with the flour included, if you mix the latter for longer the gluten will toughen.

Thursday, 12 April 2012

This must be my 4th post in the last week‚Ä¶Easter holidays, or any other holiday for that matter always turns me into a bum. Whilst I should be actively searching for work experience and/or work, I spend my days (and student loan) baking things like this tangy carrot cake and then eating one slice and throwing it in the bin (I have the only sweet tooth in my family, either that or I‚Äôm in denial about how inept my baking is). Also my boyfriend is in Florida for 10 days so you can only imagine how many more blog posts will arrive this coming weekend!

So this cake‚Ä¶I mixed things up a lot with the recipe, I literally used half the Primrose Bakery recipe and half the Hummingbird recipe. For example I used corn oil from Primrose but plain flour from Hummingbird. The original (first half) recipe called for pecans, I used walnuts because pecans have a maple-like soft sugary taste which I felt wouldn‚Äôt go well with 420g of sugar, so walnuts it was! I also got rid of a few things like salt and grated ginger. Enjoy!uHhsssssdds

Monday, 9 April 2012

A seriously moist dessert, every bite contains so much sweetness! I baked this with my mum; she doesn‚Äôt believe in the metric system and so chucked everything in by the inexact cup. I was hesitant but she told me everything would be okay, and it bloody was! My mum cultivated this recipe from her own mum, who used to bake it to perfection! There‚Äôs just one tricky bit in this recipe, so definitely give it a go!

The Recipe:

1 and a half cup vegetable oil¬†

1 and a half cup all purpose flour/self raising

1 tsp baking powder

1 whole bag desiccated coconut (approx 250g)

1 and a half cup granulated or caster sugar

4 eggs¬†

1 tsp vanilla extract (optional)

Extra coconut for decoration¬†

For the Syrup:

2 cup sugar

4 cups water

2 sticks of¬†cinnamon¬†(optional)

The Method:

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees and grease & flour a square¬†Pyrex¬†dish.

In a large bowl, pour in oil and sugar and whisk with an electric whisk for 1 minute until fluffy. Then add the eggs in one at a time and continue to whisk till fluffy.¬†

Add in vanilla and baking powder.¬†

Sieve the flour and add it in bits at a time, but do not use an electric whisk at this point, just fold the flour in until you get a thick and smooth batter.

Lastly, add the coconut until just incorporated. Remember to set some aside for decorating on top!

Pour into your dish and do not¬†agitate¬†the batter, just let it run down the cruxes of the dish by itself - this may take a few minutes. Once settled, pop in the oven for half an hour or until browned.¬†

As soon as you put the cake in, begin to make the syrup - the syrup must be cooler in temperature than the cake in order for it to absorb the syrup!

In a saucepan on a low heat, add all the ingredients and wait till the sugar dissolves and the house is filled with a sweet¬†cinnamony¬†smell!

Transfer syrup into plastic measuring jugs and let cool for ten minutes, meanwhile keep an eye on the cake!¬†

Once the syrup is slightly cooled, transfer into the fridge and leave to cool a little more.

Slowly pour as much syrup into the cake as it could possibly absorb (remember to do this whilst the cake is still warm).¬†

Sunday, 8 April 2012

The past few days have involved a LOT of retail therapy, you know that kind spurs from absolutely nowhere and has absolutely no cause? Anyway these were just a few of the baking get up bits I bought that were worth sharing with the rest of the world.

Love Cupcakes Sprinkles ¬£2.49 from Tk Maxx

The sprinkles came from Tk Maxx,¬†I've¬†searched far and wide for them online and they‚Äôre nowhere to be seen! The 100‚Äôs & 1000‚Äôs really caught my eye; Dr Oetker‚Äôs are never this bright! Can‚Äôt wait to experiment with all three.

Lastly the muffin cases - these measure a 5cm base and are over 2mm thick! Perfect for baking cupcakes in. They‚Äôre usually sold at hefty prices online at around ¬£5/7 but I nabbed these in Macro for just ¬£2.50! so everyone, go down to Macros!!! ¬†

StockPort Muffin Cases ¬£2.50

Do¬†you¬†have any 'must have' baking essentials that you simply couldn't live without?¬†

Thursday, 5 April 2012

Caterpillars‚Ä¶chicks‚Ä¶oranges and dusty white red roses - I‚Äôm convinced it doesn‚Äôt get much more eastery than that! These cupcakes were an experiment of creativity! And this was all I managed to come up with. This recipe uses a double quantity of the Vanilla Cupcakes Recipe, but I used a vanilla pod instead (which, by the way makes all the difference!) and a delicious no solids chocolate buttercream!

The buttercream uses:

250g unsalted butter (Lurpack)

450g icing sugar¬†

50g Cocoa Powder (Green & Blacks)

I fell short of cupcakes at one point and ended up with much more buttercream than I bargained for, that‚Äôs what I meant when I said that these cupcakes were an experiment of creativity (it weren‚Äôt a reference to my poor fondant creations) because it led me to giving the cupcakes a double rose swirl on top! The turnout wasn‚Äôt as ugly as I‚Äôd imagined!

Sunday, 1 April 2012

I will be giving away two 60ml bottles of Nielson Massey extract, at the flavour of your choice. Flavours include coffee, lemon and vanilla. The giveaway also includes some cute Strawberry & Vanilla Sugar Strands.¬†

¬† ¬† ¬† ¬† ¬†¬†

All you have to do is:¬†

1. Simply click 'Follow me' on your right hand side,¬†or if you don't have Blogger then simply subscribe by email :)

2. Leave a comment below telling me you've entered

And that's it! I will pick the winner at random on 28th April, entries must be made from the UK only!¬†